Joey Alfieri

Expert Analysis

2018-19 Preview: Part 5

Part five of our 2018-19 season preview will feature the last three teams in the Metropolitan Division and the first two teams in the Pacific Division. You can check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four of the series here if you haven’t already done so.

Editor's Note: Be sure to checkout DRAFT's $1,000,000 Best Ball Championship. Best Ball is season long but with no management. Just set it and forget it! Once you're done drafting, that’s it – no or waivers– you don’t even have to set your lineup. Your best players get automatically selected and you'll get the best score, every week. For a limited time, DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers a FREE entry into a real money best ball draft with your first deposit! Here's the link.

Biggest Strength: The Hurricanes have a gifted bunch of blueliners on their roster. The group includes: Hamilton, Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk. They also have solid depth defenders with de Haan, Brett Pesce and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Not many teams can say that they have that kind of depth at one position. What makes their depth even more impressive is that each of those players is 27 years old or younger.

Biggest Weakness: Mrazek was brought in during the summer to push Scott Darling, who had a horrible first year in Carolina. Even with that addition, the ‘Canes still don’t have a clear-cut number one netminder that that they can rely on night in and night out. Darling might be more comfortable heading into this year, but he still has a lot to prove. For the Hurricanes to make the playoffs, they’ll need one of their netminders to step up in a big way.

Player to Watch: Rookie Andrei Svechnikov will have every opportunity to make the team out of training camp. The second overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft has great offensive instincts, which should benefit the Hurricanes starting this season. Carolina has been lacking an elite scoring threat, so they have to be thrilled that they were able to add Svechnikov through the draft.

Biggest Weakness: Goaltending has been the Islanders’ biggest weakness for the last few years. In the off-season, they allowed Halak to walk in free agency (he signed with Boston), but they brought in Lehner from the Sabres. Even with Lehner in the fold, the Islanders still don’t have a true number one goaltender. A duo of Thomas Greiss and Lehner is far from great. In order to become a good team, they’ll have to address their hole between the pipes.

Player to Watch: Bailey was one of the biggest surprises of the 2017-18 season, as he accumulated 71 points in 76 games last season. With Tavares no longer in the fold, will Bailey be able to reach those numbers again this season? Many will be inclined to say no, which is fair, but Bailey will have to deliver now that the organization lost one of their top offensive weapons in free agency.

Biggest Weakness: The blue line is still a question mark for the Rangers. Injuries limited Kevin Shattenkirk to just 46 games last season. He’s capable of providing offense from the back end, but he has his issues in the defensive zone. Brady Skjei is a reliable defender, but Marc Staal and Brendan Smith have seen better days. Rob O’Gara, Anthony DeAngelo and Claesson are all still relatively unproven.

Player to Watch: Kevin Hayes and the Rangers avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $5.175 million contract this summer. Agreeing to a short-term contract just means that they’ll have to revisit negotiations in the new year. The 26-year-old now has a full season to prove that he’s capable of being a top-line player at the NHL level. He had 25 goals and 44 points in 76 games last season. If he’s capable of improving those numbers, he’ll likely get himself a massive contract before or during free agency.

Biggest Strength: For a team entering their second year in the NHL, the Golden Knights have a pretty impressive group of centers. William Karlsson, Stastny and Cody Eakin make up one of the better groups in the Western Conference. They were good enough to help the Golden Knights reach the Stanley Cup Final, but they ultimately fell a little short of their goal of winning it all. If Karlsson and Stastny can provide solid production, again, in 2018-19, Vegas should go on another long playoff run.

Biggest Weakness: It’s hard to pinpoint a weakness on an expansion team that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. If there’s the one thing the Golden Knights are missing, it’s a true number one defenseman. They managed to make a long run without one, but they were strong contenders for Erik Karlsson’s services right before the trade deadline, so they clearly feel like they could use a top end blueliner.

Player to Watch: Instead of acquiring Karlsson, the Golden Knights traded for forward Tomas Tatar, who ended up being a disappointment and a healthy scratch in the playoffs. The 27-year-old finished with 20 goals in 82 games last year, but he had just four goals and two assists in 20 games with his new team. Vegas paid a steep price to get him from Detroit, so they’ll need him to step up. With Neal and Perron now gone, Tatar will have to find a way to get the job done.

Biggest Strength: The Ducks have a number of quality defensemen like Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Brandon Montour, and they also have a solid number-one goaltender in John Gibson and a good backup in veteran Ryan Miller. The fact that they have that kind of depth at their disposal means that they’ll probably be able to make at least one more playoff run this season.

Player to Watch: Nick Ritchie is currently a restricted free agent, which means he and the Ducks still need to agree on a new contract. The 22-year-old had just 10 goals and 27 points in 76 games last season. That’s disappointing considering Anaheim used the 10th overall pick to select in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. If he’s going to develop into an effective offensive forward, he’s going to have to do it soon.

Part five of our 2018-19 season preview will feature the last three teams in the Metropolitan Division and the first two teams in the Pacific Division. You can check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four of the series here if you haven’t already done so.

Editor's Note: Be sure to checkout DRAFT's $1,000,000 Best Ball Championship. Best Ball is season long but with no management. Just set it and forget it! Once you're done drafting, that’s it – no or waivers– you don’t even have to set your lineup. Your best players get automatically selected and you'll get the best score, every week. For a limited time, DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers a FREE entry into a real money best ball draft with your first deposit! Here's the link.

Biggest Strength: The Hurricanes have a gifted bunch of blueliners on their roster. The group includes: Hamilton, Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk. They also have solid depth defenders with de Haan, Brett Pesce and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Not many teams can say that they have that kind of depth at one position. What makes their depth even more impressive is that each of those players is 27 years old or younger.

Biggest Weakness: Mrazek was brought in during the summer to push Scott Darling, who had a horrible first year in Carolina. Even with that addition, the ‘Canes still don’t have a clear-cut number one netminder that that they can rely on night in and night out. Darling might be more comfortable heading into this year, but he still has a lot to prove. For the Hurricanes to make the playoffs, they’ll need one of their netminders to step up in a big way.

Player to Watch: Rookie Andrei Svechnikov will have every opportunity to make the team out of training camp. The second overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft has great offensive instincts, which should benefit the Hurricanes starting this season. Carolina has been lacking an elite scoring threat, so they have to be thrilled that they were able to add Svechnikov through the draft.

Biggest Weakness: Goaltending has been the Islanders’ biggest weakness for the last few years. In the off-season, they allowed Halak to walk in free agency (he signed with Boston), but they brought in Lehner from the Sabres. Even with Lehner in the fold, the Islanders still don’t have a true number one goaltender. A duo of Thomas Greiss and Lehner is far from great. In order to become a good team, they’ll have to address their hole between the pipes.

Player to Watch: Bailey was one of the biggest surprises of the 2017-18 season, as he accumulated 71 points in 76 games last season. With Tavares no longer in the fold, will Bailey be able to reach those numbers again this season? Many will be inclined to say no, which is fair, but Bailey will have to deliver now that the organization lost one of their top offensive weapons in free agency.

Biggest Weakness: The blue line is still a question mark for the Rangers. Injuries limited Kevin Shattenkirk to just 46 games last season. He’s capable of providing offense from the back end, but he has his issues in the defensive zone. Brady Skjei is a reliable defender, but Marc Staal and Brendan Smith have seen better days. Rob O’Gara, Anthony DeAngelo and Claesson are all still relatively unproven.

Player to Watch: Kevin Hayes and the Rangers avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $5.175 million contract this summer. Agreeing to a short-term contract just means that they’ll have to revisit negotiations in the new year. The 26-year-old now has a full season to prove that he’s capable of being a top-line player at the NHL level. He had 25 goals and 44 points in 76 games last season. If he’s capable of improving those numbers, he’ll likely get himself a massive contract before or during free agency.

Biggest Strength: For a team entering their second year in the NHL, the Golden Knights have a pretty impressive group of centers. William Karlsson, Stastny and Cody Eakin make up one of the better groups in the Western Conference. They were good enough to help the Golden Knights reach the Stanley Cup Final, but they ultimately fell a little short of their goal of winning it all. If Karlsson and Stastny can provide solid production, again, in 2018-19, Vegas should go on another long playoff run.

Biggest Weakness: It’s hard to pinpoint a weakness on an expansion team that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. If there’s the one thing the Golden Knights are missing, it’s a true number one defenseman. They managed to make a long run without one, but they were strong contenders for Erik Karlsson’s services right before the trade deadline, so they clearly feel like they could use a top end blueliner.

Player to Watch: Instead of acquiring Karlsson, the Golden Knights traded for forward Tomas Tatar, who ended up being a disappointment and a healthy scratch in the playoffs. The 27-year-old finished with 20 goals in 82 games last year, but he had just four goals and two assists in 20 games with his new team. Vegas paid a steep price to get him from Detroit, so they’ll need him to step up. With Neal and Perron now gone, Tatar will have to find a way to get the job done.

Biggest Strength: The Ducks have a number of quality defensemen like Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Brandon Montour, and they also have a solid number-one goaltender in John Gibson and a good backup in veteran Ryan Miller. The fact that they have that kind of depth at their disposal means that they’ll probably be able to make at least one more playoff run this season.

Player to Watch: Nick Ritchie is currently a restricted free agent, which means he and the Ducks still need to agree on a new contract. The 22-year-old had just 10 goals and 27 points in 76 games last season. That’s disappointing considering Anaheim used the 10th overall pick to select in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. If he’s going to develop into an effective offensive forward, he’s going to have to do it soon.

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